Greece’s Lake Shore Fire District taken to task over spending

Monday

Lake Shore Fire District has some flawed accounting, according to the state.

Lake Shore Fire District has some flawed accounting.

That’s according to the Office of the State Comptroller, which released an audit today. The agency looked at the district’s finances from January 2005 to December 2006 and found some weak practices.

It found Lake Shore had $11,487 worth of expenses that were unauthorized. The funds included $10,499 for gift certificates, gas cards and other rewards for volunteer firefighters. Additionally, $988 was spent on dinners, including alcoholic beverages. The office determined the district’s funds shouldn’t be used for such purchases.

The audit also took to task the district’s five-member Board of Commissioners, which oversees Lake Shore’s finances. The board approved some payment claims but didn’t have appropriate documentation to show if the expenses were allowable. Out of 275 claims reviewed, totaling $189,284, 39 of them, totaling $25,882, lacked proper documentation. One such claim was a credit-card bill for $2,850 that was said to have paid for five airplane tickets. There’s no way to tell if it’s a legitimate expense, according to the audit, because there are no corresponding receipts.

The office also recommended the treasurer not handle all the cash collections and disbursements, record-keeping and account reconciliations. With those duties limited to just one person, the chances for error are increased, auditors said. The audit did not find any errors related to the treasurer.

Lake Shore, which serves about 11,300 residents, had a $1.3 million budget in 2006.

This isn’t the first Greece fire district to be looked at by auditors. In May, auditors found the North Greece Fire District failed to verify claims as legitimate expenses or didn’t have proper documentation. Before that, the comptroller found that Barnard Fire Department spent $26 on adult entertainment.